The Manchester weather appears certain to ensure England retain the Ashes today with forecasters predicting rain to fall all day.
Rain set in on Sunday night, leaving the Emirates Old Trafford outfield sodden this morning, and is expected to remain until this evening. An inspection was scheduled for 10.45am to assess the state of the pitch.
The prospect of no further play, or severely curtailed action, leaves England poised to secure the draw they need to retain the Ashes, having built a 2-0 series lead.
"It is not looking too good. It is a pretty wet day," MeteoGroup UK forecaster Laura Caldwell told Press Association Sport.
"There is a lot of rain around today and it is not looking like it will clear any time soon.
"It would be the evening, around five or six o'clock, before the rain will clear."
Bad light and then rain forced play to end early at 4.26pm yesterday with Australia 331 runs ahead.
With skipper Michael Clarke almost certain to declare should the weather clear Australia would have a maximum of 98 overs in order to bowl England out.
That appears an optimistic hope at best, however, with the players greeted by an outfield with puddles in certain parts this morning.
The Old Trafford groundstaff began the task of clearing the surface water at 10am, although the main covers remained over the centre wicket.
Australia batsman David Warner revealed his frustration at what he perceived to be delaying tactics by England's bowlers.
England's over-rate dropped to 12.2 yesterday afternoon - it was 13 in the first innings - and captain Alastair Cook could face action from the International Cricket Council for dropping below the 15-overs-per-hour threshold.
Warner said: "The captain suffers from that (slow over-rates).
"He'll miss a game if he's time-wasting or if the overs aren't bowled in the time allocated.
"That will come back to bite (England) on the bum."
